Closure cap and sealed package



April 1961 H. E. STOVER CLOSURE CAP AND SEALED PACKAGE Filed Sept. 30,1957 INVENTOR.

llqffr Smut) United States Patent CLOSURE CAP AND SEALED PACKAGE HarryE. Stover, Lancaster, Ohio, assignor to Anchor Hocking GlassCorporation, Lancaster, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 30,1957, Ser. No. 687,035-

4 'Claims. Cl. 215-40 The present invention relates to the sealing artand more particularly to an improved closure and a container finish formaking a hermetic seal on a glass container and to a method of makingthe closure.

More particularly the invention is an improvement upon the closure andcontainer of the inventors Patent No. 2,772,013, issued November 27,1956, and his copending application Serial No. 465,027, filed October27, 1954, now Patent No. 2,817,453, issued December 24, 1957.

The rapidly increasing use of food products which are preferablypackaged in hermetically sealed containers presents a continuallygrowing demand for suitable packages and for improved sealing closureswhich are easily manufactured and which are at the same time easilyapplied to containers such as glass jars to provide a lasting hermeticseal. The closures must be easily and rapidly applied and removed and atthe same time they must be capable of maintaining a tight seal duringthe handling incident to storage and shipment of the containers,

The above mentioned Patent No. 2,772,013, and application Serial No.465,027, now Patent No. 2,817,453, each relate to closures adapted forhermetic sealing and having sealing gaskets molded into a metal closureshell. In order to provide for the accommodation of the closure gasketto the sealing finish of the container the closures of Patent No.2,772,013 and application Serial No. 465,027, now Patent No. 2,817,453,each have grooves formed in the skirt portion of the closure'gasket. Theformation of this groove requires a separate manufacturing operationafter the gasket has been molded into the closure.

I have now discovered that tthe position ,of the sealing groove may bemoved from the closure skirt to a portion of the gasket underlying theclosure cover while retaining an equal or an improved sealing action. aThe closure of the present invention has its groove in the closuregasket .at such a position .that the groove may be formed simultaneouslywith the formation of the remainder of the gasket while at the same timeproviding an effective air-tight seal. 7 7

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved: closureand a method of making the closure;

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedclosure which is adapted for easy'manufacture.

Another object of the present inventionis to provide animproved methodof 'manufacturing closurecaps. Another object of the invention is toprovide an improved container finish. e

. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedsealed package.

Otherand further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described,; orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon em-'ployment of the invention in practice. 1 A preferred embodiment oftheinvention has been showing a preferred finish in accordance with thepresent invention;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the closure and thecontainer showing the closure partly applied to the container;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view similar to Fig. 4 with theclosure fully applied to the container; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of a device for:

shaping the gasket according to the present invention.

Referring to the drawing and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 thereofillustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention, a closure cap 1 isshown having a cover portion 2 and a depending skirt 3 formed from sheetmetal and a sealing gasket 4 bonded thereto.

The skirt 3 has a generally cylindrical upper portion 5 and a flaringlower portion 6 which terminates in aninwardly curled lower edge 7 whichenvelopes the lower edge of the gasket skirt portion.

The preferred, embodiment of the gasket 4 extends over the entire innersurface of the closure and comprises a relatively thin protective centerportion 8 and a thicker sealing portion 9 at the outer edge of theclosure cover portion 2. The center portion 8 of the gasket 4 provides aprotective coating to protect the contents from the metal shell of theclosure. This por-' tion may be omitted where such protection is notrequired. The thicker sealing portion 9 of the gasket. 4 is shaped, aswill be more fully described below, to allow a rapid sealing of thecontainer and to hermetically seal the container. The entire gasket 4may be formed in a single operation as will be described in connectionwith the description of the method below.

The sealing portion 9 of the gasket 4 comprises a relatively thickportion 10 on the cover 2 adjacent to the junction of the closure cover2 and skirt portion 3. A relatively deep annular groove 11 is providedin the portion 10 to facilitate the sealing action as will be describedbelow. The thick portion 10 connects with a relatively thick sidesealing gasket portion 12 on the closure skirt 3. The side sealingportion '12 extends downwardly in a generally straight line on the cylindrical portion 5 of the closure skirt 3 and thenflares outwardly as seenat 14 on the flaring portion 6 of the skirt 3. The lower edge of theflaring gasket portion 13 has its lower edge enveloped by the inwardlyturned lower edge 7 of the closure skirt 3.

The relatively thick sealing portion 9 of the gasket 4 is adapted toengage the rim of a container which preferably has an outwardlyextending annular bead adjacent to the mouth of a container. The rim ofthe container and the bead engage the sealing portion 9 to provide ahermetic seal as will be more fully described below in the descriptionof the preferred embodiment of the container finish as illustrated inFigures 3, 4, and 5.

As seen in Figure '3, the preferred container finish comprises anannular enlargement 14 adjacent to the rim 17 of the container 18. Apair of maximum diameter portions or beads 15 and 16 cooperate to form achannel 19 intermediate the beads 15 and 16. When the closure is appliedto the finish of Figure 3, the beads 15 and 16 embed themselves at leastpartially into the side sealing portion 12 of the gasket 4. Since thepre{ ferred rubber-like materials for the gasket are essentiallyincompressible, the application of the closure 1 to the container causesa reshaping of the gasket material. This reshaping occurs in thepreferred forms of the gasket and container finish disclosed herein totightly seal the container and to provide a sealing action which permitsrelatively easy subsequent removal of the closure 1 from the container13. Since the embedding of the beads 15 and 16 into the gasket 4displaces a certain amount of the incompressible gasket material, it hasbeen found necessary to provide an accommodation means to accept thedisplaced material. In the preferred gasket illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2channel 11 is provided at the outer edge of the thickened gasket portionon the closure top 2. During the sealing of the container the excessgasket material is displaced by a rolling or wiping action and thenecessary amount of gasket material is forced upwardly from the gasketportion 12 into the channel 11. This displacement is illustrated inFigure 4 in which the container 12 is shown with the closure 1 partiallyapplied. The upper bead 15 has engaged the thickened gasket portion 12causing a displacement of a small amount 19 of the compressible gasketmaterial. As the closure 1 is forced further onto the container 18, theexcess material in the bulge 19 is gradually forced upwardly into thechannel 11. When the closure has been completely applied to thecontainer, as is seen in Fig. 5, the channel 11 is at least partiallyfilled with the displaced gasket material.

In order to provide for an efiicient displacement of the gasket materialso that an effective sealing engagement is obtained between the closure1 and the container 18, the upper surface of bead 15 has a relativelyflat angular gasket contacting surface 20. The surface 20 engages thesurface of the gasket portion 12 at a relatively sharp angle so that itlifts or wipes the excess gasket material ahead of the surface 20 intothe channel 11 during the sealing action described above. In a perferredform of the container finish, the surface 20 is relatively flat and anangle of about 51 plus or minus 2 /2 with a horizontal plane defined bythe container rim has been found to provide unexpectedly superior sealswith the preferred closure gasket shape. The transfer of gasket materialfrom the relatively thick side portion 12 of the gasket or covering 4provides for a tight seal between the beads 15 and 16 and the gasket 12and also provides for an efficient top seal between the upwardly facinghead 21 on the container rim 12 and the portion of the closure gasket atthe reshaped groove 11.

Prior closures such as the closure of applicants prior Patent No.2,772,013 provide grooves in the side portions of the closure gasketwhich will receive displaced portions of the gasket material tofacilitate a sealing action. The formation of these radially directedgrooves complicates the closure manufacture in that it has been foundimpractical to form them in a single molding step. The channel 11 of thepresent closure and its cooperating gasket finish provide a satisfactorygasket material accommodation action and at the same time are readilyformed in a single molding action with a relatively simple die. Apreferred method of forming the gasket finish is illustrated in Figure6. After the closure shell 22 has been shaped by suitable dies, theshell 22 is placed in the die member 23 with a measured blank of gasketmaterial positioned within it. A shaping plunger 24 is then forceddownwardly into the closure shell 22 so that the gasket material isforced into the shape of Figure l by the molding action of thecooperating die 23 and the plunger 24. The channel 11 is formedsimultaneously with the other portions of the gasket 4 by a suitableflange 25 on the plunger 24. When the plunger 24 is removed from theclosure shell 22, a completely shaped gasket 4 has been formed therein.The closure 1 is completed by a suitable curing of the 4 gasket materialor it may be applied without curing where an unvulcanized gasket isdesired.

It will be seen that an improved closure and method of making have beenprovided by the present invention. A closure results which provides atight hermetic seal and which is readily adapted for application andremoval from the container. At the same time the closure and itsintegral gasket are easily manufactured with a minimum number of stepsso that the closures are adapted for use in large quantities with thepreferred container finish of the invention in high speed automaticpackaging operations.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. A closure cap of the class described comprising a metal shell havinga top and a peripherally depending skirt having an uppermost cylindricalportion and a lowermost outwardly flaring portion and a rubber gasketbonded to the inner surface of the metal shell and forming animperforate covering over the entire inner walls of said top anddepending skirt and comprising a gasket skirt portion having an uppercylindrical relatively thick sealing zone and a lower relatively thinoutwardly flaring zone, said zones being bonded directly to thecorrespondingly shaped portions of the skirt of the metal shell andcomprising also a gasket top area having relatively thin central andperipheral zones connected by a substantially thicker zone for makingsealing engagement with a relatively wide zone of a container finishwhereby said relatively thin peripheral zone of said gasket top areaforms a groove into which gasket material may flow when displaced fromthe adjacent cylindrical zone of the gasket skirt portion and thethicker zone of the gasket top area when the cap is pressed onto acontainer and both of said last named zones of the gasket be comedeformed to the shape of the container finish, and the lower edge of theoutwardly flaring skirt of the metal shell extending inwardly andupwardly about the lower edge portion of the lower outwardly flaringzone of the gasket.

2. In a sealed package of the press-on closure type, the combination ofa glass container having an annular enlargement on the side thereofadjacent the container mouth comprising in vertical cross section a pairof maximum diameter bead-like portions spaced vertically from oneanother with a relatively shallow groove therebetween, a closure capseated on the glass container comprising a metal shell having a top anda peripherally depending skirt having an uppermost cylindrical portionand a lowermost outwardly flaring portion and a rubber gasket bonded tothe inner surface of the metal shell and forming an imperforate coveringover the entire inner walls of said top and depending skirt andcomprising a gasket skirt portion having an upper cylindrical relativelythick sealing zone engaging said bead-like portions of the container anda lower relatively thin outwardly flaring zone, said zones being bondeddirectly to the correspondingly shaped portions of the skirt of themetal shell and comprising also a gasket top area having a rela tivelythin central and peripheral zones connected by a substantially thickerzone for making sealing engagement with a relatively wide zone of thecontainer top whereby said relatively thin peripheral zone of saidgasket top area forms a groove into which gasket material may flow whendisplaced from the adjacent cylindrical zone of the gasket skirt portionand the thicker zone of the gasket top area when the cap is pressed ontothe container and both of said last named zones of the gasket becomedeformed to the shape of the container finish, and the lower edge of theoutwardly flaring skirt of the metal shell 5 6 i... extending inwardlyand upwardly about the lower edge References Cited in the fil Of thisPatent portion of the lower outwardly flaring zone of the gasket. UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 3. The combination as claimed in claim 2 in which the 1668 180 Williams I May 1 1928 uppermost of said bead-like portions hasits upper sur- 1'956012 Egan 1934 face sloping inwardly and upwardlyfrom its o termos 5 2:443:505 Hohl I J e 15: 1943 edge along a straightline. 2,463,701 K er Mar. 8, 1949 4. The combination as claimed in claim3 in which 2,492,144 Gora. Dec. 27, 1949 said straight line portionforms an angle of about 51 2,688,776 Evans et 'al Sept. 14, 1954 from aplane defined by the container m 2,817,453 Stover Dec. 24, 1957

